"Third Restoration": Takaichi's Electoral Mandate Dismantles Postwar Japan and Shapes a New Containment Line Against China

On February 8, 2026, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, secured 316 of 465 seats in the House of Representatives—the party’s strongest result in its 71-year history. 

The LDP now controls 68 percent of the lower chamber outright; together with its new coalition partner, Nippon Ishin no Kai, it holds 352 seats, or 75 percent.

According to available estimates, this represents the highest seat share achieved by a governing party in the modern history of liberal democracies. 

The result surpasses the two-thirds constitutional threshold required to initiate revision of Article 9, which since 1947 has prohibited Japan from maintaining fully fledged armed forces.